Helminth parasites of alcids in the northwestern North Atlantic

1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Threlfall

One thousand and one alcids of six species (Alca torda, Uria aalge, Uria lomvia, Plautus alle, Cepphus grylle, Fratercula arctica) were collected in the northwestern North Atlantic, during the period June, 1966 – September, 1969, and examined for parasites. Helminths belonging to 12 genera were recovered, the common murre (U. aalge) containing the greatest number of species. Statistically significant annual variations (P < 005) in the parasite burden of this species were noted. No differences in intensity of infection in male and female birds and in chicks and adults were detected. Twelve new host records are noted.

1975 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eldon S. Eveleigh ◽  
William Threlfall

Two hundred and fifty auks of five species (Alca torda, Uria aalge, Uria lomvia, Cepphus grylle, Fratercula arctica) were collected in Newfoundland in 1972 and 1973, and examined for Ixodes uriae. Ticks were recovered from all the bird species examined except C. grylle. No significant difference (P > 0.05) was found in the burden on adult auks with regard to sex and weight. The distribution of the tick stages on the hosts is presented: adult females prefer the neck, larvae prefer the body regions. The distribution of nymphs varied with the host species. The population structure of the tick on the hosts is recorded. Immature auks are rarely infested.


2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (11) ◽  
pp. 1095-1102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander L. Bond ◽  
Antony W. Diamond

How species allocate nutrients to egg production is an important question in contaminant analyses. Seabird eggs are sampled frequently in such studies, so it is important to know the source of nutrients in these eggs if the source of the contaminants is to be traced. We used a stable-isotope approach to evaluate the relative importance of locally derived nutrients (income breeding) and stored nutrient reserves (capital breeding) in six species of Atlantic seabirds (Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisaea Pontoppidan, 1763; Common Tern, Sterna hirundo L., 1758; Atlantic Puffin, Fratercula arctica (L., 1758); Common Murre, Uria aalge (Pontoppidan, 1763); Razorbill, Alca torda L., 1758; Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma leucorhoa (Vieillot, 1818)) breeding in the Bay of Fundy. We found that all species either were income breeders or adopted an intermediate strategy whereby varying proportions of locally derived nutrients were incorporated into eggs. Each species’ migratory behaviour is likely a main factor in determining the amount of endogenous nutrients used in egg formation.


Polar Record ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (153) ◽  
pp. 107-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Lydersen ◽  
Ian Gjertz ◽  
Jan Marcin Weslawski

AbstractStomachs of 171 vertebrates (two species offish, eight of birds and twoof seals) from Hornsund, Svalbard, were collected between 7 September and 5 October 1984. Arctic cod Boreogadus saida and the amphipod Pamthemisto libellula were the main prey species of black guillemots Cepphus grylle, little auks Alle alle, puffins Fratercula arctica, Brunnich's guillemots Uria lomvia, kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla and ringed seals Phoca hispida. Fulmars Fulmarus glacialis preyed mainly on the squid Gonatusfabricii and the polychaete Nereis irrorata. Eiders Somateria mollissima preyed mainly on bivalves and on the amphipod Gammarellus homari. G. homari and Gammarus oceanicus were the most important prey species of striped snailfish Liparis liparis, while shorthorn sculpin Myoxocephalus scorpius mainly preyed upon G. homari and Anonyx sarsi. Glaucous gulls LOTUS hyperboreus took many different prey including birds and tundra plants. Only one bearded seal Erignathus barbatus stomach with content was available for this study.


1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1087-1093 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth L. Brown ◽  
William Threlfall

Ommastrephid squid of the subspecies Illex illecebrosus illecebrosus (LeSueur) were obtained during the late summer and early autumn of 1966 and 1967 from numerous areas around the eastern coast of the island of Newfoundland. Helminths of five genera were found, namely, Phyllobothrium sp. and Dinobothrium plicitum (both of which had previously been recorded from this host), Pelichnibothrium speciosum, Scolex polymorphus, and Nybelinia sp. The last three represent new records from this ommastrephid. The incidence of these parasites was tested for correlation with standard length and with sex of the host animal. Annual and seasonal variations in degree of infection were also noted. The greatest number of procercoids encountered were Dinobothrium plicitum. Degree of infection with helminths in 1966 and 1967 was similar (39%:40%) and contrary to earlier published data, infection by cestodes is not always directly correlated with mantle length. Any possible relations between sex of the squid and parasite burden are unclear.


1997 ◽  
Vol 200 (12) ◽  
pp. 1757-1763 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Hawkins ◽  
P Butler ◽  
A Woakes ◽  
G Gabrielsen

The rate of oxygen consumption (O2), respiratory quotient (RQ) and deep body temperature (TB) were recorded during a single, voluntary ingestion of Arctic cod Boreogadus saida (mean mass 18.9+/-1.1 g, s.e.m., N=13) by five postabsorptive Brunnich's guillemots (thick-billed murre, Uria lomvia). The birds were resting in air within their thermoneutral zone, and the fish were refrigerated to 0-2 degreesC. The rate of oxygen consumption increased by a factor of 1.4 during the first few minutes after ingestion, but there was no significant change in TB. Mean rate of oxygen consumption returned to preingestive levels 85 min after the birds ate the fish. The telemetered temperature of one fish reached TB within 20 min. This suggests that the persistent elevation in O2 over the next hour corresponded to the obligatory component of the heat increment of feeding (HIF) and was not related to heating the fish. Abdominal temperature increases after diving bouts in free-ranging common guillemots (common murre, Uria aalge) are possibly achieved through the HIF, since meals are processed at sea. Of the increase in O2 measured in the laboratory, it is calculated that 30 % is required to heat the fish, while 70 % is due to the HIF. In free-ranging birds, the excess heat provided by the HIF could contribute 6 % of the daily energy expenditure. This suggests that the HIF augments heat production in Uria spp. and thus reduces the energetic cost of thermoregulation.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0246888
Author(s):  
Samuel James Walker ◽  
Hanneke Johanna Maria Meijer

Seabirds are one of the most at-risk groups, with many species in decline. In Scandinavia, seabirds are at a heightened risk of extinction due to accelerated global warming. Norway is home to significant portion of the European Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) populations, but Norwegian populations have declined significantly during the last decades. In this paper we use biometric data from modern and archaeological F. arctica specimens to investigate patterns in body size variation over time of this iconic species. We aimed to set out a baseline for our archaeological comparison by firstly investigating whether modern subspecies of F. arctica are reflected in the osteological characters and are enough to distinguish subspecies from the bones alone. We then investigated if archaeological remains of F. arctica differ in size from the modern subspecies. Our results show that the subspecies Fratercula arctica naumanni was distinctly larger than the other subspecies. However, Fratercula arctica arctica and Fratercula arctica grabae were difficult to separate based on size. This generally supports ornithological observations. Post-Medieval F. arctica bones from Måsøy were similar to modern F. a. arctica populations. The mid-Holocene remains from Dollsteinhola overlaps with the modern size ranges of F. a. arctica and F. a. grabae but are generally shorter and more robust. Dollsteinhola is located close to the borders of the modern breeding ranges of both F. a. arctica and F. a. grabae. We consider it therefore likely that given the mid-Holocene climatic oscillations, breeding ranges of the two subspecies shifted north or south accordingly. However, this does not explain the different proportions of the Dollsteinhola specimens. Our data provide the first evidence for shifting distributions in ancient Atlantic Puffins and represent the first osteological analysis of Fratercula arctica subspecies.


The Auk ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 104 (4) ◽  
pp. 733-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Benjamin Davis ◽  
Helga Guderley

Abstract To compare the metabolic systems that support the combination of flying and diving with those used to support burst flying and sustained flying, myoglobin concentrations and maximum enzyme activities were determined for selected enzymes of glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and amino acid metabolism in the pectoral, supracoracoideus, and sartorius muscles of the Common Murre (Uria aalge), Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), Rock Dove (Columba livia; hereafter "pigeon"), and Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus). Glycolytic enzyme levels in the flight muscles were lower in the murre and the puffin than in the pheasant, while both glycolytic and Krebs-cycle enzyme levels resembled those in the pigeon. We believe puffins and murres do not rely extensively on anaerobic glycolysis during diving. In concordance with a role in oxygen storage for diving, the levels of myoglobin in the flight muscles of murres and puffins were higher than those in pigeons or pheasants. They were lower than published values for penguins, however. In contrast to the trends for pigeon and pheasant muscles, the alcid sartorius muscles had a considerably lower aerobic orientation than the flight muscles.


Zootaxa ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2123 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUÍS C. MUNIZ-PEREIRA ◽  
FABIANO M. VIEIRA ◽  
JOSÉ L. LUQUE

Using available records, unpublished information retrieved from the Helminthological Collection of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (CHIOC) and published reports, a checklist of the recorded helminth parasites of endangered vertebrates from Brazil was generated. A total of 772 records and 186 helminth species (6 Acanthocephala, 83 Nematoda, 23 Cestoda, 64 Trematoda, 10 Monogenea) in 76 host species (7 Actinopterygii, 8 Chondrichthyes, 1 Amphibia, 10 Reptilia, 22 Aves, 28 Mammalia) from Brazil were listed in the present work, including 39 undetermined helminth species and 10 new host records. This is the first compilation of the helminth parasites of threatened vertebrates in Brazil and in the Neotropics.


1955 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Margolis ◽  
Gordon C. Pike

The following helminth parasites have been recorded from Cetacea caught off the British Columbia coast. Trematoda: Lecithodesmus goliath (fin whale), Lecithodesmus spinosus n. sp. (sei whale) and Ogmogaster plicatus (fin and sei whales); Cestoda: Phyllobothrium delphini (sperm and fin whales); Nematoda: Anisakis simplex (sei, Baird's beaked and sperm whales), Anisakis physeteris (sperm whale), immature Anisakis sp. (fin and humpback whales) and Crassicauda pacifica n. sp. (fin whale); Acanthocephala: Bolbosoma turbinella (sei whale). Crassicauda pacifica and L. spinosus are illustrated and described, and compared with known species of their respective genera. The variations in morphology and measurements are discussed for O. plicatus. Notes on host and geographical distribution are cited for all parasites. Lecithodesmus goliath and O. plicatus are reported for the first time from the Pacific and P. delphini was previously unknown in the North Pacific. Bolbosoma turbinella is a new record for the northeast Pacific and A. physeteris for the Pacific coast of Canada. Baird's beaked whale and possibly the sperm whale are new host records for A. simplex. The fin whale is a new host record for P. delphini and L. goliath.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
E.U Anele ◽  
I.H Nock ◽  
I.M.K Gadzama

Helminth parasitc infections were investigated in 150 Anurans collected in parts of the Northern Guinea Savannah during thedry and wet seasons of 2016. The Anurans that were investigated included Amietophrynus regularis, Kassina senegalensis,Afrixalus vittiger, Xenopus tropicalis, Xenopus fischbergi, Pyxiecephalus cf. edulis, Hoplobatrachus occipitalis, Amniranagalamensis and Ptychadena pumilio. Overall prevalence of helminth parasites was 64% (94/150). Seven species ofhelminths belonging to three taxonomic classes were recovered: Monogenea 4%, Trematoda 19.33% and Nematoda 40.67%were identified. Eupolystoma alluaudi (30%) was the only monogenean recorded from the bladder of S. regularis. Tematodesfound were Diplodischus fishthalicus (53.49%) and Haematoloechus micrurus (67.45%) from the rectum and lungs of H.occipitalis, respectively. Nematodes included Camallanus microcephalus from the oesophagus and small intestine of X.fischbergi ( 62.96%) and X. tropicalis (100 %), respectively, Camallanus dimitrovi (25.58%) from the small intestine andrectum of H. occipitalis, an unidentified nematode from the oesophagus and small intestine of X. fischbergi (1.85%) and X.tropicalis (33.33%), and an Aplectana (85.00%%) species from the small intestine and rectum of S. regularis. Except forEupolystoma alluaudi, the infestation level was generally low. Parasite prevalence was higher during the wet (39.33%) thandry (24.67%) season and the difference was not significant (p = 0.17). The prevalence and infection intensity were lower thanthose reported from anurans in southern biotopes of Nigeria. The occurrence of Camallanus macrocephalus is a new recordfor Nigeria, while X. fischbergi and X. tropicalis are new host records for C. macrocephalus. Keywords: Anurans, helminth, prevalence, Northern Guinea Savannah, Nigeria


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